Team Coco Meets Das Racist, Summarily Rejects Them

“Conan’s” been on TBS for over a year now, and it’s been hard to admit lately that I’m still with Coco because the vibe of his current installment has unfolded as broad and showbizzy (example: they literally play “Name That Tune” sometimes). So imagine my surprise Monday when I learned back-of-the-class hip hop jokesters Das Racist were billed as the program’s musical guest for that evening. Anticipation immediately stirred within me. Surely DR’s East Coast sensibility (read: they’re New York oddballs who give no fucks) would somehow poison the safe “Let’s Make a Deal” vibe that generally cocoons the L.A.-based “Conan.”

As you can see, Das Racist turned in a television debut worthy of their rep: Heems and Victor lazily reciting the lyrics to their claustrophobic single “Michael Jackson” before bringing out an actual MJ impersonator to bust a move over some freaky break beats. Fun stuff, I thought, but the majority of Team Coco appears to disagree. The show’s Facebook page quickly filled up in the hours after the program with comments from cranky fans decrying Das Racist as “horrible” and “disgusting” and “the worse [sic] music group” the show’s ever booked. Hey, c’mon gang, play fair. You can’t really level the “worst ever” accusation at anyone when Cobra Starship’s been on “Conan” at least twice.

For the record, people on Twitter are being even more dramatic:

I’ll admit this Das Racist performance didn’t live up to the greatness of the studio version of “Michael Jackson,” but it was still visually enticing, audibly interesting, and leagues more entertaining than the Jason Segel interview (“Hey Conan, does America know I’m obsessed with puppets yet?”). I don’t know who it was that got DR on “Conan” when they don’t have a record deal and their most recent release is three months old—probably the same person who snagged that super reclusive king of musical mope Morrissey for tonight’s show—but they deserve a raise.